Improved washing-machine



V UNITED STATES PATENT EETCE.

H. W'. JOHNSON, lOF ATHENS, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVED WASHING-MACHINE.

Speciiication forming part of Letters Patent Nof, dated December 10, 1861.

T0 all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, H. XV. JOHNSON, of Athens, in the county of Bradford and State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tashing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is V a description thereof in such terms as I now conceive to be sufficiently full, clear, and exact, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this speciiication, in which- Figure l is a top View, and Fig. 2 a vertical section through the line @c a; ot' Fig. l.

The nature of my invention consists, first, in providing the box with inclined changeable bearings for the cylinder-shaft, so that when the clothes go in in a heap or form into wads or knots the cylinder may recede, and thus provide room for their passage without danger of breaking` the cylinder or incurring extraordinary friction; second, in forming the cylinder with a series of swinging and stationary holding-bars, by means of which the clothes may be attached at their ends to its circumference and carried around with it; third, in combining a series ot' swinging and stationary holding-bars used for attaching the clothes at their ends to the circumference of the cylinder, with an opening in the said cylinder for the admission of clothes to be Washed within, and, fourth, in constructing the cylinder with an opening to admit a portion of the clothes within to be washed there and combining such cylinder,when corrugated or tinted on its circumference, with a box with a corrugated or tinted bottom, whereby clothes may be washed at the same time both within and without the cylinder.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

The box A is made with a concave corrugated or tinted bottom B, which may be of any suitable material, as Zinc or wJod, or both combined. Each end of the cylinder-shaft O is provided with a friction-roller a, which has its' bearing on ways b b, attached to the inside of each end ot' the box, inclined toward each other and joining at c, so as to form an obtuse angle, and at that end of the box through which the shaft projects to receive the four-hand crank or hand-wheel D the end piece is cnt away in a manner corresponding with the shape of the inclined ways, as seen at E. At the outer ends of these inclined ways are arranged vertical guide-pieces d d, in which slide the horizontal strips e, resting upon the tops ot' the friction-rollers d and provided with springs f, ,which bear against the horizontal tixed piece g. From this construction it. will be seen that when the clothes accumulate or form into wads or knots at either side of the machine the cylinder will yield or give upwardly and toward the opposite side of thebox, the friction-rollers c rolling up one set of the inclined ways l) l), and that when the obstructions are removed or overcome the cylinder will roll back to its normal position by means of the springsf pressing upon the bearing-strips e e.

The cylinder F is constructed as follows: its circumference is divided into corrugated or tinted sections h, and between two of these sections are arranged the clainpingbars ij, the lower one 'L' of which is fixed to the cylinderheads, while the upper oneyl is hinged, as at 7o, and is provided at its other end with a clasp l. Between one of these two corrugated or tinted sections and the next succeeding one is interposed the stationary holding-bar m, but sufficiently distant from each to admit of a ready insertion of the fingers to carry one end of the clothes in and ont under the said bar. The cylinder is completed by a duplication or multiplication of these three partsviz., the corrugated or tinted section h, the clamping-bars 'L' andj, and the stationary holdin g-bar m, arranged relativelv with each other, as described, except that at one point n the clamping-bars are omitted and an opening is left therein of sufficient width to admit of the insertion ot' a part of the clothes-such as sheets, blankets, and quilts-but not wide enough to permit them to fall ont in the revolution or reciprocation of the cylinder.

In. the process ot washing the larger articles that do not need scrubbing are inserted within the cylinder, and the smaller articlessuch as shirts, collars, &c.-are fastened at one end to the cylinder by means ofthe clamping-bars i and j, while the other end is carried in and out of the cylinder under the stationary holding-bar m, thereby securing between each clamping-bar and stationary holding-bar a separate corrugated or flu ted scrubbing-surface. Each article is thus attached until the entire cylinder is covered, when a reciprocating motion is communicated to the four-hand crank or hand-Wheel D and the articles Without successively scrubbed, While those within are continually rising and talling against the inside of the cyliudcrs bars. A Whole family Washing may thus be Washed by my machine at the same time and Very expeditiously.

Having thus described my invention and the manner in which it operates, what I claim therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, isk

l. The inclined Ways b b and friction-rollers a, in combination with the bearing-strips SSLQSS e and springsf, as and for the purpose speci` tied.

2. rlhe,clamping and stationary holdingbars z', 7`, and m, in combination with the intervening corrugated or luted sections 7L, as and for the purpose set forth.

The clamping `and stationary holdingbars 1,7', and fm., in combination with the opening u in the cylinder, as described.

4. The hollow cylinder with its opening n, in combination with the external corrugations 7L and the concave corrugated or fluted bottom B of box A, as and for the purpose described.

lll. \V. JOHNSON.

NVitnesses:

G. A. C. SMITH, JOHN B'IATHYS. 

